Whether it’s the weekend or Wednesday, a little indulgence is always nice & doesn’t need to be extravagant. Sometimes it’s the little things that bring the most joy & that includes a plate of satisfying comfort food.
When a delicious main course is centre stage, it usually requires a couple of supporting acts. All the best ones do – fish & chips, bacon & eggs, spaghetti & meatballs (the list is endless). Burgers always require a good bun, but they also need some serious sidekicks like crispy coated 
onion rings & deliciously chunky chips. These two sides are a well-loved staple in our household & with good reason.
Firstly, the chunky chips (fondly known by our family as Aimée Chips) accompany everything from fish fingers to roast chicken. They are ridiculously easy & totally faff-free – chop them up & chuck them in the tin kind of cooking.
Secondly, there are crispy light onion rings that literally melt in the mouth. These oh-so-delicate flavoursome delicacies are perfectly 
light & crisp, tasting much naughtier than they actually are. Before you start worrying about chips & onion rings being deep fried or not very healthy, the best bit is … there’s no frying required because they’re all baked! That also means no hot pans to stand & watch (because nobody has the time for all that).
Ready to bake it happen? Starting with my Aimée Chips! Hands washed, aprons on & here we go!
What you need:
6-8 medium Potatoes (nothing fancy, whatever you’ve got is fine)
Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tablespoon Coarse Semolina Flour
What to do:
Pre-heat the oven to 220*C & get a large roasting tin to cook the chips in.
Wash & dry your potatoes well, leaving the skins on. Cut them into thick wedges. Don’t worry about them being exact-sized, just make them at least the thickness of your thumb. Place them all into a roasting tin.
Drizzle well with the olive oil, then dust with a good pinch each of black pepper & sea salt, about a quarter teaspoon. Tip: if you’re preparing these in advance, do not add the salt until you are ready to cook them. The salt will make them rock hard & no amount of cooking will soften them up.
Sprinkle the coarse semolina flour over the chips, shaking everything around to coat them thoroughly. Place each potato wedge skin-side down in the tin (this helps stop them sticking to the tin, as they’re curved & touching less surface area – little bit of science-y stuff there).
Bake in the centre of the oven at 220*C for about 20-25 minutes, giving them a shake half-way through. When they’re crispy & deeply golden, remove the tin from the oven & place on a rack. To keep them warm, place another baking tray loosely over the top (leave a gap to allow steam to escape) & then reheat just before serving for about 5 minutes in a hot oven.
Onto those deliciously delectable onion rings! No frying pan required, just a large baking tray & a little baking magic. Hands washed & here we go!
What you need:
2-3 large Brown/Spanish Onions
2 large Free Range Eggs
4oz Plain Flour
2 tablespoons Greek or Natural Yoghurt (full fat or 0% fat is fine)
Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
What to do:
Pre-heat the oven to 220*C. Prepare a large baking tray – line with a sheet of greaseproof paper. I use Bacofoil Non-Stick Baking Paper for this (it’s strong & textured, so stands up to the heat without disintegrating). You don’t need to use it, but it stops your onion rings from sticking to the tin & means you use less oil.
Prepare your onions – remove the tops & tails, take off the outer papery skins & cut into thick chunky slices.
Pop out the centres, then each inner onion ring, being careful not to break them. Place them onto a plate or board & set aside. The tiny chunky centres can be saved for another day – simple chop them into pieces, spread onto a tray & freeze for 10 minutes. Once frozen, tip them all into an airtight bag & pop back in the freezer – no big lumps of onion this way & no waste!
Tip the flour into a shallow dish & season with a little salt & pepper. Give it a good stir to mix well.
In another shallow dish, crack the eggs & add the Greek Yoghurt, along with a little salt & pepper again. Give it a good whisk with a fork to break up the eggs & blend into a thick, gloopy liquid.
Take an onion ring, coating it in the yoghurt & egg mixture all over, inside & out. Shake off the excess & drop into the flour. Coat well, again making sure you cover the inside too. Don’t worry if the flour goes lumpy, that’s fine. Lift the onion ring out, shake off the excess flour & pop onto the baking tray.
Repeat this until all the onion rings have been dipped & dunked in egg & flour. Place them all next to each other on the baking tray & don’t worry about them touching too much.
Drizzle olive oil all over the onion rings (don’t bathe it, just a light drizzle is fine) & bake in the centre of the oven for about 12-15 minutes, turning them over halfway through cooking.
Once they’re crispy & bronzed, carefully remove the onion rings from the tray using a fork or tongs & place onto a cooling rack with a bit of greaseproof paper underneath (just in case there are any oily drips).
Remember to pop your chunky chips back in the oven for a few minutes to warm up (remove the baking tray from the top) & that’s it, they’re all done!
Perfect piled up next to a beautiful burger or simply stacked up as a savoury snack, these crispy baked beauties are delicious sides by side anytime! Stay hungry! Aimee 😉 x
It’s this time of year that always seems magical. Trees have an abundance of Autumnal toned leaves, as they tumble around like confetti on the breeze, swooning in swathes wherever they land. Late blooming flowers appear, their vibrant blossoms adding some freshness to the greenery that remains. Although it’s November, the sun shines just as brightly as in earlier months, spilling spectacular shades across the skies as it arrives & departs each day.
especially those childhood dishes that evoke fond memories of deliciousness. The mere mention of puff pastry takes me to a stool in my Mum’s kitchen, watching her create all kinds of pastry treats & especially savoury pasties. She would make shortcrust pastry ones, filled with her heavenly homemade stew (our version of a Cornish pasty). Leftovers would be lovingly wrapped in fabulously flaky pastry parcels, deliciously warm & comforting. And then there were my favourites – crisp buttery puff pastry packed with mashed potatoes, cheese & onion. There would always be some mashed potatoes leftover from the previous night’s dinner, just enough to make a few pasties for lunch the next day.
Using your fingertips, rub the butter chunks into the flour a little – we don’t want it like fine breadcrumbs, more like a rough rubble texture with plenty of lumps. This is just breaking down the butter a bit to make rolling easier.
Place your saucer or plate on the pastry, cutting neatly around the edge & repeat until you have cut out as many as you can. Where you have leftover pieces of pastry, place them on top of each other, reshape & roll out again. Sometimes, I’ll just shape these last ones with my fingers rather than cutting them out again (trust me, it will all be fine once they’re baked).
Brush a little beaten egg around the edge of the pastry & fold the top half of the pastry over, pressing the edges together to seal in your filling. From one corner of the pasty, gradually squish the edges together to form a crust, finishing at the other corner. Lift onto your prepared baking tray, prick holes with a fork in the top. Repeat this step, until you have all your pasties made.
Place on a cooling rack for a few minutes – even if you’re eating them warm, they will be like the surface of the sun right now & melt your mouth. While they’re cooling a little, grab a few crisp salad leaves or some chunky chips (or both), pile them on a plate & tuck in!
These delicious pasties also make fabulous flaky finger-foods, great for picnics & parties – just make smaller nibble-sized ones & add a spicy tomato dip for dunking! I use my tomato sauce recipe for meatballs & add a pinch of cayenne to give it a kick (recipe link here: 
been following my blog, you’ll have most of your Christmas cooking prepared by now too (well done you!). This part is all about the main event: a beautifully basted bird, & whether you prefer turkey, chicken or something else completely, you want it to be perfect. It’s like a spectacular Sunday lunch, only with more people (& more wine). Whether you’re having a full-on festive feast or not, everyone will be looking forward to spending a few days with their family & friends.
pterodactyl (it was a bit of a beast & needed two people to wedge it into the oven), along with joints of beef, pork & Quorn, plus a glazed gammon joint & various crates of veg – this involved several days, two kitchens & a bottle of Sherry! Despite all the chaos, dinner would be done & I somehow managed to keep smiling – it’s a bit like being a swan on a pond, all calm & graceful on the top, but paddling like mad under the water!
2-3 medium/large Carrots
Next you need to fill the cavity of the chicken – again, this helps the chicken cook evenly & it also flavours it nicely too. There are various fillings you can use, but ultimately it’s down to personal choice – some people prefer traditional sage & onion stuffing, some prefer using a few fresh herbs & vegetables. If you made some of my homemade sage & onion stuffing for this, simply spoon it into the cavity until full. If you prefer your stuffing separate, bundle together a couple of thin carrot & celery sticks with the leaves on, along with the herbs (saving a couple of Sage leaves) & put inside the chicken cavity.
If you’re using bacon, layer your bacon rashers across the chicken breast, starting at the top & working your way down, with each rasher overlapping the previous one. This is good if the skin has split on your chicken – it will keep your breast meat moist & the bacon will crisp up nicely at the end of cooking. Wash your hands well again afterwards (they’ll be sparkling by now!).
Lay a couple of equal sized foil strips on top of each other, with the dull sides on the inside (the side that goes next to the chicken), then fold the top over about a centimetre all the way along. Do this a couple of times, then mash them together well to make sure they don’t come undone in the oven. If you have a larger sheet of foil, just put a crease or fold in the middle, leaving the central part un-creased. Put over the tin, making sure it forms a dome over the top & doesn’t touch the chicken, then press firmly around the edges of the tin so that none of that lovely steam can escape. This is what makes your stock, infusing with the bird & veg to produce a fragrant, flavoursome fluid for making gorgeous gravy later.
When you’re happy that it’s crisped enough, remove your roasting tin from the oven & place on a cooling rack (I use a grill tray with a wire rack in it for this, to catch any drips). Replace the foil lid & seal around the tin to protect the meat from drying out, then let it rest for at least half an hour. By resting the bird, the meat relaxes nicely & becomes beautifully tender. Traditionally, you should let the bird rest for the same amount of time it was in the oven, but I leave it as long as it takes to cook the accompanying side dishes.
If you’ve been following my previous blogs, this is where you grab a well-deserved glass of something nice, give yourself a pat on the back & relax, because all your sides will be prepared! Just pop them in ovenproof dishes, then warm them through in the oven while your roasties cook (bet you’re glad you did all that prep now!). Obviously, this is also when you tell everyone else to keep out of the kitchen while you’re working hard (on your G&T hopefully) & send them off to set tables, find tablecloths, fill glasses – anything to keep them busy & give you a five minute breather.
a pint into a jug (keep the rest in the pan, put the lid on & leave to cool, then freeze). To remove any fat from the stock (that’s the golden bubbles you can see here), get yourself a few sheets of kitchen paper & touch it gently on the top – the grease will attach itself to the paper, which you can then throw away (no faffing around trying to separate it).
When everything is ready & you’re happy with it, get your Little Helpers in to distribute dishes to the table (maybe have some extra treats to reward them for their support).
the end of November, I had already chopped, mashed & stashed an array of side dishes in readiness, cramming pots of fluffy potatoes, gorgeous gravy & cauliflower cheesiness into my freezer. Most of us work & don’t have the time to faff around in the kitchen, so a bit of prep now will make all the difference. It’s like giving yourself the gift of time! Because I’m covering a few things here, you will need some strong coffee to keep you going & a few Little Helpers to share the load (bribes at the ready if necessary!). This also works for Thanksgiving too.
exception. A week or two before, I make a mountain of mashed potatoes & a giant cauliflower cheese (sometimes with broccoli), then freeze them in two-person portions (for the recipe, click on this link to my blog: 
completely & I started making my own from scratch. It’s so simple, you can make it in advance & freeze it until you need it! If you prefer it inside the bird, just make your stuffing the day before, cover it & leave in the fridge. Depending on the size of your dinner party or the size of your bird, just increase quantities as required (I say “bird” because not everyone eats turkey, my family included, as we prefer chicken). Hands washed, aprons on & here goes!
1 large Onion, finely chopped
Sprinkle the Sage & Rosemary into the pan with a pinch of Thyme, add the breadcrumbs & stir well. The residual heat from the pan will bring everything together nicely, so just mix well. Season with a little sea salt & black pepper, stirring well again. If you’re adding the roasted chopped chestnuts or lemon zest, do this now.
If you’re making stuffing balls, get yourself an ice-cream scoop (spring-loaded will make your life easier & will also ensure they are all roughly the same size). Put some of the mixture into the ice-cream scoop (you don’t want to damage your pan by scraping it!) & press it in gently. Release the ball from the scoop, shape it into a nice sized ball in your hand & place on the greaseproof paper. Repeat until you’ve used the whole lot.
oven for about 15-20 minutes until golden brown on top, turning halfway. Once cooked, either serve immediately with your roast dinner, or place on a cooling rack (still on the greaseproof paper) & leave to cool completely. These can then be frozen & reheated on the day you want them. That’s the stuffing stuffed!
Once you’ve got your sides sorted, Christmas Day becomes a doddle – just take them out of the freezer the night before, pop them into an ovenproof dish to defrost & that’s it, prep done! They can be reheated in the oven while the bird is resting & the veg are roasting. This is also handy when unexpected extras turn up for dinner, because you’ll have a spare pot you can defrost (making you look like the most organised person ever & score major Brownie points!).
quality one that you like, then pimp it up with a few little tweaks. Simply scoop the whole lot into a small saucepan & break up with a wooden spoon, heating very gently. Add a shot of Sherry or Port, stirring carefully into the cranberry sauce. Sprinkle a little orange or lemon zest into the pan, about half a teaspoon, & stir gently for a minute or two. Pour it into a small dish to cool, then cover & put in the fridge until you’re ready to serve!
Remove from the oven & tip them onto a cooling rack. Either pile them up onto a plate for your dinner guests or let them go cold, bag them up & pop them in the freezer. Then when you fancy a Yorkshire pud, put them on a tray in the oven for about 4-5 minutes to reheat & crisp up – I like to use the residual heat from the turned off oven after cooking dinner. They’re also rather nice with a spoonful of jam & a drizzle of single cream (or tinned evaporated milk).
to head to the local shops & pick up whatever is in season. Most people go shopping with a list; I like to just see what’s available, then decide what I can make from that.
500g Stewing Meat – I prefer beef, but you can use whatever you like (adjust which herbs you use accordingly)
Prepare the vegetables – peel, top & tail the carrots, onions & parsnips. Dice the onions. Chop the other veg into bite sized pieces – I usually cut them down the centre lengthways, then again & chop them into pieces. Share them between the two casserole dishes.
Once it’s cooked, place the stews on a cooling rack or thick wooden chopping board. Using a fork & spoon, fish out the Thyme twigs & discard them – the leaves will have gone into the stew. If you want to thicken your gravy, my tip here is to strain some off from each pot, about half a pint each, then heat it up in a saucepan while stirring. This thickens it up nicely, without going like treacle. Then pour it back into each pot, stirring into the meat & veg, 
before serving in huge bowls with lots of fresh, thick cut bread to mop up the gravy.